Feb. 7 β A United Airlines flight out of Miami is now safely on the ground in Buenos Aires after a man reportedly attempted to gain access to the cockpit.

Local television said a man on board Flight UA 855 attempted to enter the cockpit about fours hours after the plane took off from Miami at 11:55pm last night.
The co-pilot reportedly overpowered the man, who was reportedly from Uruguay and the plane landed at Buenos Aires airport in Argentina this morning.

The co-pilot grabbed a fire axe that was in the cockpit and hit the intruder on the head. The crew and some passengers were then able to subdue the man, according to the FBI. "

EZE I assume.
Certainly this person could not have been thinking straight if he tried to break in to the cockpit.
Do you suppose this may have been politically motivated, involving all of the domestic unrest in Argentina?

MIA > EZE is probably long enough to have an IRO, so maybe it was the IRO that intercepted the man. I am also interested to find out if the door was locked, I must say that it probably wasn't as it isnt that easy to get through them when locked these days

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) β Argentine authorities detained a passenger aboard a United Airlines jetliner Thursday after he tried to enter the cockpit during a flight from Miami, officials and the airline said.

The unidentified passenger was restrained by the plane's crew and later arrested by police after the flight landed as scheduled in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, said Jorge Reta, an Air Force spokesman.

Authorities did not identify the passenger, but local reports said the man was reportedly a Uruguayan citizen.

Yes it was. That is why it took the person so long to kick in the bottom part of the door. It gave the pilots advace warning. On the outside of the door, passengers as well as crew members already tried to subdue him.

CNN Europe are now quoting the United airlines spokeman as saying that the intruder never actually gained access to the cockpit. They are saying that he was stopped while trying to get in. They then went on to rabble about how the doors are now re-enforced

Perhaps the guy was just an aviation enthusiast and
badly wanted to see a B777 cockpit . I remember when
I flew a BA 777 from Philadelphia to London last December,
they did not allow me a cockpit visit , even though
the plane was at the gate already. That was not a good feeling.

MSNBC is reporting that the man that attempted to enter the cockpit of aircraft is a banker from Uraguay. They are also reporting that the man did not force his way into the cockpit, but that the pilot opened the door, and the copilot hit him with the fire ax. MSNBC is reporting that the man was also intoxicated. Passengers reports are that the man seemed visibly drunk. They interviewed a colonel from the Argentine air force, who spoke with the man. Apparently the perpetator was confused about the entire situation.
Currently they are interviewing Mary Schiavo, asking her questions about cockpit security and the issue of serving alcohol on airplanes.